Ice Crystals
by Criala
Summary: A village deep in the woods is attacked. Everyone is murdered, except one. Will the Spirit Detectives be able to protect her?
1. A Princess

Another Yu Yu Hakusho story!  
>I hope you all like it. :)<p>

**Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho. Though I wish I did, so I could sic Hiei on people...**

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><p>"N-No!" A soft cry could be heard, along with the sound of running foot steps. "No, no! Leave me alone!" A young girl ran through the small village. Tears poured down her cheeks from her darkish blue eyes as she ran as fast as she could. The wind whipped her long, darkish blue hair all around her as she ran.<p>

The village was nestled deep in the forest, near the mountains. Hardly anyone knew about it. Most of the time that kept trouble from happening, but it can also keep you from getting help easily if you need it. It was usually a very peaceful place, except for tonight. The roads were littered with dead bodies and pools of drying blood. It was nothing like the peaceful village she was used to.

She almost tripped, but she regained herself and kept running. If she stopped, they would get her as well. A pair of large, ugly monsters were after her. One was big and green with horns sticking out of its head. It had three yellow eyes and a long, swishy tail. The other was a grayish color, and had large claws on its hands. He only had two eyes, and no tail. They were scary looking, but they didn't appear to be too bright. They got the job done though. They'd killed the whole village.

She stumbled over a tree branch as she ran into the forest. She collapsed against a tree trunk, her chest heaving from her running. Glancing around the tree trunk, she let out a quiet sigh of relief. She'd finally lost them. Now she had to find a place to hide so they couldn't find her again. Slowly she stood up, sneaking off into the trees.

xXx

"A princess? You're kidding, right? What is this, Koenma? A fairytale?" The voice of a teenage male retorted. He had black hair that was slicked back heavily with gel, and had brown eyes. His body was clad with a green school uniform. One of his hands was shoved into his pocket.

Koenma sat at the desk in front of the teenager, sitting in his large chair. "I'm quite serious, Yusuke."

A red head stood in the room, not far from Yusuke. He wore an outfit similar to Yusuke's, only his was a reddish in color. His brilliant emerald green eyes looked up at Koenma. "What princess, Koenma?" He wondered.

"The ice demon princess, Kurama." He responded. "Princess Hana."

"I don't believe I've heard of her." Kurama spoke, scratching his cheek lightly, trying to recall having heard of her before, but the name didn't sound familiar to him. "Have you Hiei?" He glanced to a man who was wearing all black. He had black spikey hair with a white starburst in the front, and crimson red eyes.

Hiei shook his head, his hands shoved into his pockets as he leaned against the wall.

"Her family lives in a small, secluded village, deep in the mountains in the Demon World. In addition, it's surrounded by forest. Very few know of its existence." Koenma stated.

"So, what's the point, binky breathe?" Yusuke asked in a very bored tone.

Koenma's left eye twitched. "Her father is a dear friend of mine, so I have an eye kept on their village incase they are in need of help."

Yusuke raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yes, Yusuke!" Koenma groaned. He felt like ripping his hair out.

"Wait a minute… Where's Kuwabara?" Yusuke asked, looking around when he noticed that his cat loving friend wasn't there.

"Yes, I noticed his absence as well." Kurama nodded his head, glancing around the room.

"Princess Hana is attractive, to say the least. Do you think I could trust Kuwabara around her?" Koenma raised his eyebrow at Yusuke.

"True…" Yusuke rubbed his chin with a shrug.

Kurama chuckled lightly. Kuwabara would probably fawn all over the princess if she was attractive like Koenma had said, but Yusuke wouldn't be too much better than Kuwabara.

"Besides, I think he had a prior engagement, which is probably watching over Yukina. You three should be fine on your own. Anyways, now can we please stay focused on the issue at hand here?" Koenma threw his arms up in the air in frustration.

"Okay, okay." Yusuke muttered.

"Alright, this mission is to go to the village. Obviously, I have reason to believe that something's happened there." Koenma said.

"Why is that, Koenma?" Kurama tilted his head in curiosity.

"Like I said, I have kept watch over their village by placing a guard there. The guard I had watching over the village hasn't checked in with me." Koenma responded, fidgeting a bit worriedly.

"How often does he normally check in with you?" Kurama asked.

"He usually checks in every day briefly." Koenma told him. "And he hasn't in two days. Obviously, this isn't normal, so because of this, I think something's happened to him, and that village."

"And you want us to go find out what it is, right?" Kurama stroked his chin lightly in thought.

"Yes." Koenma nodded his head. "I'll set up a portal to transport you, and you'll report back to me via the communicator when you can. You're going to have to walk a little bit, because the portal won't be opened in front of the village entrance, but there's a path for you to follow to get there."

"Yeah, yeah." Yusuke sighed.

Koenma made the portal appear in front of the three of them. "Good luck you three."

Yusuke smirked. "This will be a piece of cake!" He said, stepping towards the portal and going through it.

Kurama and Hiei followed soon after, disappearing into the portal.

xXx

As Yusuke came out of the portal, he landed on his feet. Hiei and Kurama soon landed on their feet beside him.

"Koenma wasn't kidding when he said it was surrounded by forest. Well, I guess this is supposed to be the path he mentioned." Yusuke commented as he glanced around, taking a few steps towards the barely visible path.

"Yes." Kurama pursed his lips, thinking for a moment as he looked around. "Hmm…"

"What are you thinking, Kurama?" Yusuke asked, looking at his red haired friend.

"Someone would have to know about this place to be able to find it. Otherwise it would be nearly impossible to be found." Kurama spoke.

"So, someone was planning an attack on this village." Hiei said.

"Yes, I'm thinking so." Kurama nodded his head.

"Let's hurry then." Yusuke made his way down the little path with Kurama and Hiei following after him.

It only took a couple minutes to get to the village entrance. The village entrance appeared to be a wooden gate, which was left open.

"Now that's odd." Yusuke muttered, making his way through the gate. "Why would leave the gate open like that?"

"Yes, it is." Kurama agreed, walking through the gate as well. His emerald orbs widened when he saw the sight within the village. There were bodies and blood everywhere.

"My God…" Yusuke's eyes were just as wide as Kurama's were. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Hiei was the only one who didn't have much of a reaction to the sight before him. He'd seen plenty of horrible things in his life, and this wasn't the worst he'd seen.

"We're too late…." Kurama murmured with a hint of sadness in his voice.

"So, do you think the princess is…" Yusuke trailed off, stepping around some of the bodies that littered the ground. "Well… You know… Dead?"

"Hmm… I don't know, Yusuke. It's possible, but I don't think so." Kurama answered, bending down and examining some of the bodies for a moment. He stood up again. "I think she's still alive, so it's our top priority to find her."

"Where do we start though?" Yusuke asked.

"That might be a start." Hiei spoke.

"Where?" Yusuke turned his gaze to where Hiei was looking. The wall that was surrounding the village, which was made of the same wood as the entrance gate, had a large hole broken into it.

"Now we don't know what we're up against, and whatever it was that killed these people is still out there. It's probably out there looking for the princess as well, so we have to be careful and stay on guard." Kurama said, looking at Yusuke and then Hiei. Finally his gaze landed on the hole in the wall.

"We need to hurry then." Yusuke ran through the hole with Kurama and Hiei right behind him. "How are we going to find her though?"

"We may be able to sense her, but if she ran, she shouldn't be too far away." Kurama answered him. "I'm hoping at least."

Yusuke gave a noise in response, and paused in his running. "Did you guys hear something?"

Kurama stopped briefly for a moment to try to hear. "I think so… I can't quite place what it is though."

"Yeah…" Yusuke shrugged a bit and started running again. "But now… It's getting louder."

"It almost sounds like… Crying." Kurama observed.

"Do… You think it's the princess?" Yusuke asked, glancing at Kurama.

"I think it is." Kurama told him.

"There's something up ahead, and it looks big." Yusuke stopped in his tracks once they got closer.

"Demons." Hiei said.

"What are they doing though?" Yusuke wondered, raising his eyebrow.

"They are pounding against that mountain it looks like." Kurama said. "But why they are is the question here." He gasped as the reason why dawned on him. "She must be hiding in that mountain!"

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Yusuke smirked. "Let's take them down!"

"Yes." Kurama pulled a single rose from his hair, and turned it into his rose whip. Hiei put his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Hey uglies! Over here!" Yusuke called out.

The two demons stopped pounding against the mountain, and turned around to look at the three. They didn't waste any time in attacking Yusuke, Kurama and Hiei.

"You'll be easy to take down!" Yusuke chuckle as he pointed his finger at one of the demons charging his spirit gun. He fired at one of the demons, hitting it in the chest. The impact from his spirit gun caused the demon to stumble and fall to the ground, giving Hiei the chance to slice the demon into pieces with his sword. "Well, that's one down!"

"And two." Kurama chuckled as his rose whip slashed the other demon to bits.

"That was almost too easy." Yusuke commented, looking at what was left of the demons.

"They didn't seem strong enough to take out that village." Kurama said. "But… They probably didn't have the power to fight back."

"Probably." Yusuke agreed. "Hey look. There's a small cave in the side of mountain."

"Let's go." Kurama ran over to the cave. Hiei followed after him, and Yusuke wasn't that far behind either. "This is where the crying is coming from." He peaked into the small opening in the side of the mountain. A young lady was in the back of the cave. She had her arms wrapped tightly around her knees, and her face was buried in her knees. This must be the princess, he thought to himself. "Hello?"

She jumped a bit, obviously startled. "N-No! D-Don't hurt me…" She softly cried, trying to shrink further into the cave.

A small smile came to Kurama's face. "Don't worry, miss… We're here to rescue you."

She slowly looked up at him, her blue eyes meeting his green eyes. "R-Really…?"

Kurama leaned into the cave further, holding his hand out to her. "Yes. We were sent by Koenma."

She eyed him for a moment, still not sure about trusting him but then she relaxed when she heard Koenma's name. She slowly pulled her arms from her legs and carefully took his hand. He helped her out of the cave. Once she was out, by now she'd calmed down, she looked from Kurama to look at Yusuke and Hiei.

"So… You're the princess, eh?" Yusuke asked, leaning in a bit closer than she would have liked to look her over.

"Y-Yes…" She quietly answered.

"Koenma was right." Yusuke smirked a bit. "She is attractive."

"U-Um…" She just stared at him, blushing lightly.

"Yusuke…" Kurama sighed, shaking his head at him and looked at her. "Ignore him please."

"Okay…" She nodded her head a bit. "Who… Who are you guys?"

"We were sent by that baby to come help you." Yusuke told her, sounding a bit bored now.

"I know that… I meant, what are your names?" She clarified to Yusuke.

"Yusuke Urameshi here!" Yusuke grinned at her.

"I am Kurama, though I go by Shuichi as well." Kurama smiled at her. He nodded his head towards Hiei. "That is Hiei."

"I cannot thank you all enough for coming to help me." She bowed to the three of them, smiling softly at them.

"There is no need to thank us." Kurama told her, smiling.

"Well, I guess I should get a hold of Koenma." Yusuke muttered and pulled his communicator out of his pocket.


	2. Rescue Complete

Sorry for the long wait on chapter two.  
>I didn't have much inspiration to write for the longest time.<br>But I'm getting back into writing, so hopefully I can update more often now.  
>I hope you enjoy it.<br>Let me know what you think. :)

**Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho. Only Hana and the story plot belong to me.**

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><p>Yusuke opened the communicator, and it only took a couple of seconds for Koenma's image to be shown on the small screen.<p>

"Yusuke, what is it?! Please tell me you found her!" The spirit world ruler exclaimed, completely frantic. He was eager to know the status of the ice demon princess, and if she was alright.

"Yeah, we found her." Yusuke nodded, glancing to the side at Hana. Then he turned the communicator, so Koenma could see her.

Hana blinked for a moment, looking at it before a slight smile came to her face and she gave a small wave. "Hello Koenma."

"Princess Hana! I'm so glad that they found you safe and sound." Koenma chirped, happy to see that she was alright.

"Yes, as am I…" She nodded her head. "I cannot say the same for the rest of my village though." A sorrow filled look came to her face, and she glanced down at the ground, thinking of her fallen friends and family. They were all gone. She'd never be able to seen any of them again. It took everything she had not to start crying right there.

"I'm sorry." Koenma said solemnly. "Yusuke, it would be in your best interest to get back here now that you have her. I'll be opening a portal where you are momentarily." With that, the communicator's connection to Koenma was cut.

"Now we wait." Yusuke sighed, closing the communicator and stuffing it in his pocket. He scratched the back of his head. "Better not be too long." He muttered under his breath. All he wanted to do was get home and go to sleep. Sleep sounded really good right about now.

Kurama glanced at Hana, noticing that her shoulders trembled lightly with the effort not to cry.

"Are you alright?" Kurama asked, giving her a look of concern.

"Yes, I'm fine." She murmured, nodding her head and giving a weak smile in return.

Kurama gave a smile in return, observing her for a moment.

Hiei stood a few feet off to the side, his hands stuffed into his pockets. He wasn't there to make friends with the Princess or to try to comfort her. Emotions only got in the way. Besides, he was only there because he had to be.

Within a couple of minutes, the portal had appeared before them.

"Finally." Yusuke said impatiently, jumping through the portal as fast as he could. Hiei was the next one to go through the portal, just seconds after Yusuke had gone through it.

"After you." Kurama smiled at Hana, motioning towards the portal.

"Thank you." She stepped through the portal, with Kurama right behind her, and found herself standing in Koenma's office. Yusuke was already lounging in a chair, and Hiei was sitting on the window sill.

Kurama took a seat in one of the chairs, resting his hands gracefully on his knee.

"Good to see you, Hana, though I wish it wasn't under these circumstances." Koenma spoke, looking at her.

"It's good to see you as well, Koenma." Hana bowed to the toddler with a grateful smile on her lips. "Thank you for your help, Koenma."

"Anytime at all." Koenma replied around the binky in his mouth. "I'm just sorry I didn't get help there in time for the others."

"It's alright, Koenma. It all happened so fast…" She sighed. "I barely managed to escape them."

"Do you have any idea at all about who attacked the village?" He questioned.

She shook her head. "No, I don't. I'd never seen them before the attack on the village."

"Hmm…" Koenma stroked his chin in thought.

"They were all brawn and no brain. Really easy to kill." Yusuke piped in, lazily opening an eye to look at Koenma. "I think they were somebody's goons."

"I would agree. They didn't seem very intelligent at all. They were pounding on the side of the mountain she was hiding in, not even trying to reach in and grab her." Kurama added in, looking at Koenma.

Koenma nodded his head slowly, taking this information in and processing it. "Hmm… Did your father have any enemies?" He asked, looking at Hana.

"No, not as far as I know. If he did, he didn't mention them. And we never had any visitors from outside of the village before, aside from you and your men." She replied, chewing on her bottom lip.

"And he never mentioned anything to me about having any enemies to keep an eye out for…" Koenma murmured, stroking his jaw thoughtfully. "And there were no problems in the village to make someone there want to hire demons?"

"No, there was no conflict whatsoever. Even if there was, none of the people from the village would have done that." She shook her head. "It was very peaceful until this attack happened."

"Well, someone hired demons to attack the village. We need to find who it was, and how they knew about the village." Koenma turned to look at Team Urameshi. "Until we found out who was behind the attack, she will stay at Genkai's temple in the Human World, and I want Team Urameshi watching over her."

"I knew that was coming." Yusuke muttered, glancing at Koenma.

"Of course! I believe it will be a safe and good environment for her." Koenma said.

"That is true." Kurama nodded his head. "Yukina lives there as well. She may be good company."

"Oh, yes, I'm sure she will be." Koenma agreed cheerfully, turning his attention to Hana. "You'll enjoy it there. Genkai is a little tough and harsh at times, but she's strong."

"Alright." Hana nodded. "Thank you."

"I will arrange a portal to her temple." Koenma told her.

She smiled warmly at him. "Really, Koenma. I appreciate all of the trouble you're going through to help me."

"It's no trouble at all!" Koenma chirped. "Now, there's the portal."

The portal had appeared in front of her, causing her to take a step back from it. She wasn't quite used to the portals appearing yet.

Yusuke grunted as he reluctantly pulled himself from the chair he was lounging in. "Well, let's get going. Sooner we get done, the sooner I can sleep." He muttered, thrusting his hands into his pockets.

"I'm trusting you here, Yusuke! Don't let me down!" Koenma said with a glint in his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah." Yusuke rolled his eyes and stepped into the portal, immediately disappearing.

Hiei was the next one to go through the portal, disappearing into it.

Kurama stood from where he was sitting, looking at Hana with a smile. "After you."

She gave a small smile in return and stepped into the portal. Once she'd gone through it, she found herself inside of a temple. The faint sound of Yusuke's voice reached her ears. There was another voice as well, but this one belonged to that of an older woman. She couldn't tell what they were saying though.

"Yusuke must be explaining the situation to Genkai." Kurama's voice came from behind her.

She glanced over her shoulder at him and nodded, taking the opportunity to look round the room they were in. There was just a wooden table, and some cushions scattered randomly on the floor. There was also a strange rectangular object on a small stand across the room from the wooden table. It intrigued her. She hadn't seen anything like it before.

Another thing she noticed was that Hiei wasn't anywhere to be found. She noted that he must have been really fast to be gone that quick.

"So, you must be the demon princess." The voice of an elder woman spoke.

Hana turned to her gaze to see Yusuke and a very short, older woman standing beside him. She was even shorter than Hiei, though Hana wasn't much taller than him. The woman had graying pink hair and dark eyes.

"Oh, yes. I am. My name is Hana, but I suppose Yusuke told you that. You must be Genkai. I am pleased to meet you." Hana bowed her head to the older woman.

"Don't bow to me." The woman said in a firm tone. "And yes, I am Genkai."

"Right, sorry." Hana stood up straight, giving a small, apologetic smile.

"Mm." Genkai turned her head to look away from her. "The idiot's filled me in on everything."

"Idiot?" Hana blinked. Confusion was evident on her face.

Genkai motioned her head towards Yusuke, who was glaring at her for calling him an idiot.

"I'm not an idiot." He grumbled, shooting a glare at the old woman.

Genkai merely rolled her eyes at him.

"Oh." Hana gave a small nod of her head. She didn't think Yusuke was an idiot, but she hadn't been around him long enough to confirm or not confirm whether he was one. "Are there any rules I should follow?"

"Don't be annoying." Genkai said, sparing the ice demon a glance. "And help Yukina around the temple. Sweeping, cleaning, and cooking."

"Right, of course. I'll do my best." Hana sent a small smile Genkai's way.

Genkai nodded her head. "The room you will be staying is next to Yukina's. She's the out right now, and I have some things to attend to, but the idiot can show you around here."

"Old hag." Yusuke huffed.

"Alright, thank you so much, Genkai." Hana smiled.

"Mm." Genkai gave a slight nod. She turned around and proceeded to walk out of the room to do whatever it was she had to do.

"The room she mentioned is down the hall and to the left." Yusuke shrugged his shoulders, dropping onto one of the cushions on the floor.

"Oh…" She blinked. "Weren't you supposed to show me around?"

"Eh, I'll do that later." Yusuke waved his hand in the air, letting out a yawn. "I'm beat." He proceeded to make himself more comfortable, almost immediately passing out.

"Err… Well… Alright." She murmured. A slight frown found its way onto her face.

"I can show you around, Lady Hana." Kurama said from beside her with a smile.

"Thank you, but it's quite alright. That can wait until another time after you have had some time to relax. I'm sure you all had a long day and would like to rest." Her frown was replaced with a kind smile. "And please… Just call me Hana."

"Well, I assure you it wouldn't be a problem, but thank you." Kurama nodded to her, his smile growing. "Yes, of course, Hana."

"I think I will find my new and rest. It's been a long day…" Hana murmured.

"I imagine it has. Rest well." Kurama sent another small her way.

"Thank you." She nodded her head, smiling and heading towards the sliding door that led to the hall. "And thank you for rescuing me. I would thank Hiei again as well… But he disappeared."

"He's around somewhere. Don't worry about him. He'll show up again." Kurama tried to assure her.

"Alright." Hana smiled, pushing the door open and making her way down the hall, looking at the first door on the left. "This must be the room…" She murmured to herself, sliding it open and stepping inside. Then she closed the door behind her. The only thing in the room was a futon on the floor. She approached it and crawled under the blankets, making herself comfortable.


End file.
